This invention claims priority from provisional application Ser. No. 61/069,519 for ENHANCED DEGRADABILITY OF PAPER PRODUCTS filed Mar. 14, 2008 whose teachings are incorporated herein.
This invention relates to method and apparatus for modifying the disintegration and degradability of biodegradable products, such as organic materials including paper and paperboard products, and to chemical compositions for reducing the production of environmentally undesirable gases, such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, generated during the disintegration, decomposition and degradation of the biodegradable products.
By way of example, a problem exists when biodegradable products such as paper and paperboard products are discarded and buried in a landfill and/or garbage dump. As these paper products disintegrate under anaerobic conditions methane gas is produced and introduced into the atmosphere. This is highly undesirable as methane is a potent greenhouse gas and has a high global warming potential. The U.S. EPA estimates that methane has 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. The EPA has also determined that landfills are a major source of atmospheric methane.
It is therefore an object of the invention to modify the degradability of biodegradable products to reduce the generation of selected environmentally undesirable and potentially harmful gases.